Bleach Fiction: Caged Flower
by TheaBlackthorn
Summary: A new story from bleach set in the same 'verse as Winter Kisses and Autumn Revelation's Warnings: BL Note: Part of my 100 Themes Challenge.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Give Up (93)

Author: Theablackthorn

Rating: NC-14

Pairing: Byakuya/Renji

Warnings: BL

Note: Part of my 100 Themes Challenge.

Renji walked through the halls of the sixth division heading for a small, secluded area at its heart. He had been so busy of late that he hadn't managed to get out to where he was headed, but now – finally - he could.

It was his day off and what a relief that was.

He felt like he had done nothing but work for months on end. Sighing in sheer relief, he thought about the day ahead of him, doing things he wished with no interruptions. He walked down one last hall, natural light seeping in through the paper covered shoji giving the interior a warm glow.

Renji sent his reiatsu questing out, not looking to run into anyone as he took care of one of his more, unusual hobbies. The red headed lieutenant couldn't feel anyone in the courtyard beyond and continued on his way towards the door a little further down.

He carried his warasaji in one hand, the straw of the sandal's scraping against his finger's as they swung with stride, his tabi making quiet swishing noises as he walked across the well trodden board's under his feet.

When he arrived at the door, he checked that he had everything he needed tucked into the cotton bag he carried, eye's searching through the small array of tool's and glancing over the variegated ivy that contrasted with the creamy cotton that was carefully nestled inside the bag.

Once his inspection was complete he reached out, finger's catching the polished wooden frame of the door and sliding it slowly open. The door was only open a matter of inch's before he looked out and froze in place, surprise clear on his face as his crimson eyes widened at the sight that greeted him. The one man he really didn't want to see today, was stood under the sakura blossom in the centre of the small courtyard.

A lone word left Renji's mouth on a dry whisper, "Taicho."

The red head clapped a hand across his mouth and hoped the noble hadn't heard him. He shifted back into the shadow created by the canopy covering the open walkway beyond, which wrapped around the courtyard garden. He felt something tighten in his chest as he watched the brunet from his hiding place.

Byakuya hadn't noticed him, or hadn't turned to acknowledge his presence. Renji felt both relieved and bereft at the noble's apparent ignorance of his presence. The burning ache that followed the red head around everyday day intensified, tightening his throat and making his heart feel infinitely heavier.

Renji had hoped he wouldn't run into the Captain of the sixth today, the only day he would manage to have some time free of the noble. He didn't even realise his hand remained clamped over his lips, fingertips digging into the skin, a physical restraint against the need to speak, to scream, to just make the other man acknowledge his existence.

The need he had for Byakuya was a constant burn in his belly, an ache in his heart that went so deep he didn't believe he would ever be whole again. But he never spoke, never told the noble about those intensely private emotions. Choosing instead, to watch from the sideline's day after day.

Renji was not a weak man, he knew these emotions's well, and they were a constant plague to him.

What he knew was fact.

Kuchiki Byakuya was a noble, the head of the most prestigious noble house in Sereitei, a Captain of the Gotei Thirteen and above all else – straight as the driven snow. He had been married to a woman, though many years had passed since he had been widowed.

Renji was more than aware of his very masculine form and behaviour. What he wanted, needed, desired from his Taicho he would never have.

Renji felt a weight press down on his shoulders, though there was nothing truly there but the pressure of emptiness and loneliness, that was partly self inflicted. Every time the realisation hit, he couldn't help the deep echoing sadness that filled him, and the burden he chose to bare in silence.

If he told Byakuya what he wanted from him, he wouldn't be a member of the sixth for long. Renji had no doubt that the noble would put him down with great decorum, but he knew he wouldn't feel his feet touch the floor until he was being reassigned somewhere else, far from his division.

Renji had spent a great deal of his time thinking about this and had resolved himself to remain silent. He would bear the pain in his heart if it meant he could be close to the man he desired. He wasn't truly certain he would survive as a whole being if that was taken from him.

Renji looked out at the elusive figure, absorbing the sight of the regal frame, strands of rich umber blowing lightly in the breeze. He could see that his Captain held a single blooming cherry blossom in his open palm and, if only for an instant, he thought he saw a tiny smile tilt the normally tight-lipped mouth.

He sighed at his own silly fantasy.

Kuchiki-Taicho was not someone who smiled at a single cherry blossom. He was the regal and unwavering Captain of the sixth division after all.

Renji felt something twist and crack inside him, the pain was a wave of rippling agony that swamped him. He turned away from the almost genteel sight of his Captain, all thought's of tending to the small garden were instead buried by pain, sadness and a despairing loneliness that felt like it was wrenching his very soul asunder.

What Renji didn't see as he moved silently away down the corridor was the way Kuchiki Byakuya turned, eyes focusing on the door the lieutenant had stood behind. Sharp steel coloured eyes took in the partially opened door way and a frown dipped the smooth brow. Those eye's clouded over, his once open palm closing, finger's curling to form a cage around the tiny blossom that he had held so carefully.

The Captain of the sixth looked down at his hand, seeing the tiny flower captured by his slender finger's and a soft, almost inaudible sigh filtered through the tiny courtyard. His eye's lifted to the now empty corridor, feeling Abarai's reiatsu fade and sensing the strain's of discord within it.

He turned away from the feeling, carrying the tiny blossom with him and walking to the other doorway onto the courtyard. Slipping from his sandal's and stepping onto the platform, he walked though the partially open doorway, pausing to look back at the wash of bright colour's that filled every inch of the courtyard garden he had charged his fukutaicho to care for centuries ago.

The frown slipped away as he turned, his mask of indifference sliding back into place as the red head's name caressed from his lip's, "Renji."


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Caged Flower Part 2 –

Series: Bleach

Pairing: Byakuya/Renji/Byakuya

The moon shone brightly on the still surface of the pond the long branches of the towering weeping willows grazing the surface. The bright circle of milky white light could almost have been within reach if Renji hadn't known it hung, as it always did, high in the sky beyond the hands of man.

The red head sighed softly, shoulder's slumping, hands bunching and easing rhythmically in his lap as he frowned at the dark surface lit by the soft glow. He had come here because he was tired of running into Byakuya at every turn. It had been a month since the day he'd gone to the courtyard garden of Division Six hoping to spend a few quiet hours' pottering and planting away from his constant torment. But it had not been meant to be, his Captain had stood, stark and still as always on the gentle rise of grass at its heart when he had arrived, the young cherry blossom tree at his back and a pale pink bloom in his hand. Renji had stood frozen for long moments watching Byakuya, heart thundering even as his stomach tightened and frustration swelled at what he could not have, before he had turned away, all hope of relaxation gone in a single instant.

Renji dropped his head into one hand, massaging temples with broad strokes of his fingertips as his forehead pressed to his palm. His body felt so tightly wound he thought he may just snap like the string of a Koto plucked badly. His muscle's ached, tension setting them to a steady hum - why did it have to be like this? Renji just couldn't figure it out, why Byakuya kept appearing where ever he wasn't expected. It was like the man was purposefully tormenting him. He'd turned up in the garden yes, but he'd been doing it for month's. The stoic noble had appeared at a game of 'football', as Kurosaki called it, that Renji and his friend's had played, then at Division nine when he'd gone to see Hisagi on his day off to cajole his glowering sempai into getting out of his division for a break. Everywhere Renji went when not on duty he appeared - causing the stress that had normally only plagued Renji's days to become a ceaseless, never ending cycle.

Renji sighed audibly, shoulders slumping, hand falling away from his eyes as he looked at the still surface of the pond listlessly. His mind was awash with thoughts and ideas that were viewed and discarded just as swiftly because most were flight's of fancy that had no place here. They were Renji's dream's given fleeting form and dis-guarded just as quickly because he couldn't bear to dwell on what he knew would never be.

He never felt the reiatsu of the silent man stood on the rise behind him.

Byakuya watched his lieutenant in complete silence, reiatsu pulled in so tightly it was forced under his skin. He frowned at the despondent man before him, so different from the man who sat across from him in his office, different from the brash, overbearing man that spent loud nights out drinking and laughing drunkenly.

He shifted minutely and knew the moment that Renji heard cloth shift, those broad shoulder's stiffened, his head lifted making the long hair that was loose around his shoulders shift and ripple like a wave across his back. Byakuya knew the moment that Renji realised just who was watching him as a barely audible sigh lightly fogged the air in front of his face that was still turned away from him.

They were but a few of the reason's that Abarai Renji was his lieutenant, his almost unnatural senses, sharp and focused, his strength, clear in powerful shoulder's that swung Zabimari with force and determination and the tenacity that never wavered. There were more, but they were not why Byakuya had come to the pond in the garden's of the thirteenth division that were lovingly tended by Ukitake when he was well enough to do so.

Byakuya had come searching for the man that had sat beside the quiet water's for over an hour, wanting something and not certain how to direct the lieutenant into it. He had thought, had hoped that when he had felt Renji on the other side of the shogi door's in the Sixths garden there would be more - but there was not. He felt frustration building in his gut like bucket being filled with water until it reached overflow. He could not make Renji act, had thought he could guide the man into it, it had taken him a while to notice just what the quick glances, flushed cheek's, embarrassed smiles and numerous other little quirk's were. But he recognised them for what they were - a simple reflection of his own ardent gaze, well hidden smiles and tender thoughts.

But he was a noble, the head of his family and his Division - he could not be seen to be pursuing the man that had slid under his cool, indifference like the veneer it was and finding the man Renji wanted to see underneath. Byakuya had to go about this with more cunning than most, blatant courtship was not an option for men of his station. That even he could not do what he wished with all the power his Captaincy and his status within the nobility gave him irked him to no end, he was ever the pawn of the social hierarchy - caged within it like the King on the chess board.

Byakuya let out a soft breath, shoulder's remaining rigid, his posture perfect even if he wished he could relax and let his shoulder's ease from their customary position. He would not, could not. And then shadowed eyes that Byakuya knew where the colour of a fiery sunset met his own steel grey. Byakuya watched as a heavy frown dipped red brow's, shifting the tattoo's across Renji's forehead that were uncovered and exposed to his eyes. He could see the curiosity and recrimination in blood red orb's, the pinched corner's of Renji's mouth a clear sign that he was upset.

Byakuya sighed softly, the faintest stirring of breath in the cool air. Byakuya felt like he was intruding and it wouldn't be the first time he'd felt it, all the time's he'd followed his subordinate on his day's off - just to see were he went and what he did - annoyed and frustrated Renji to no end. byakuya could always feel the tension in the air between them, Renji's reiatsu flavoured by the emotion's he hadn't yet learned to hide. Byakuya was glad of it too, how else would he determine Renji's feeling's? The man blew hot and cold like the weather, but he understood that bit of Renji too, though it had taken many years of study - they were a true contrast of self.

"What are you doing here, Taicho?" Renji asked, the word's hard and none to friendly, his shoulders rigid with tension. His emotion's were on the surface, raw and aching like a wound that never stopped bleeding. He had little tolerance left for the reserved word's he tried his best to use whenever he was in Byakuya's presence. He hadn't even bothered to rise from his seated position, not caring that it was rude, not minding that the man stood higher than him - wasn't it always the same anyway?

Renji waited a few beats and the soft, refined voice of his Captain filled the still air that was gaining a hint of winter's chill, "I have reason enough, I need not inform you of everything Abarai."

Renji didn't even blink, just stared at the man for a moment before speaking perfunctorily, "Do as you will then." Renji turned away, staring back at the glassy surface of the pond, waiting with tension singing through his very bone's like someone had pressed a tuning fork to him.

The dismissal surprised Byakuya into speaking, no forethought or planned word's, just instantaneous reaction, "You have been watching me." He was to controlled to curse and yet he wished the often colourful word's that spilled from Renji's lip's came so easily to his own in moment's like this. It had been so long since someone had shocked an answer out of him.

"You knew?" Renji looked at Byakuya with wide eyes, voice questioning.

His only answer was silence, Byakuya's face was half in shadow and half lit by the moon's pale light but the expression was empty. There was nothing, no recognition, no acceptance, just a steady gaze and those familiar thin lips set in stone.

Byakuya dared not speak, the cool mask of station and nobility falling into place to disguise the slip that had led to his outburst.

Renji 's head dipped as he looked away from Byakuya, the milky light only highlighting all the things that defined the noble and the very reasons why he would never deign to consider Renji at all. They were the very thing's that had kept Renji from saying or doing anything. Renji glowered darkly at the ground, the sight of Byakuya's composed face, kenseiken perfectly aligned along the side and the top of his head trapping inky black strands of hair that Renji had always wanted to plough his fingers through. That ever present pale white scarf that hid milky pale skin from his curious gaze, the need to stroke across Byakuya's pulse, to kiss across a bobbing Adam's apple - denied.

Renji could feel the anger boiling up in his gut like a pot that had been simmering for too long, the content's ready to be flung in a hot, scalding arc skyward. It was the very thought of Byakuya knowing – having likely always know – how he watched him, did thing's above and beyond what was expected. Renji had been doing it all along, he recognised that, even when he'd seen Byakuya as a standard to reach and surpass and that just pissed him right off.

Renji growled thick and harsh in his throat, dark gaze looking up at his Captain with anger flaring his reiatsu, curling his lip in open scorn. Renji didn't know if it was directed at the man who had come to mean so much to him, who'd pushed him farther than anyone, but who still made him feel like the Rukongai brat he'd once been or at himself for allowing Byakuya to do it.

"Of course you bloody knew; what, did you take some sadistic pleasure in torturing me?" Renji hissed with open venom colouring his words. "You fucking bastard – do you have any idea at all what this has felt like – do you!" Renji accused, his chest heaving as word's were spat from his lips like the real world bullet's he'd seen on Ichigo's TV, his hand's clenching tightly, body tensed as though if he'd let it go he'd launch himself at Byakuya and strangle the man.

"Renji." Byakuya's soft exhalation of the red-head's name was an admission all on its own. He had never spoken it aloud before, never to the man himself. But he couldn't keep it in, could see the pain, the frustration and the outright agony that pinched Renji's lip's at the corner's, bared his teeth like a cornered animal and snarled defiance. Byakuya didn't know how to undo this, how to make it right, how to sooth the savage pride and pain he could see fracturing before him. This was his doing, his reserve, his pride and his stubbornness had wrought this.

"Leave me the fuck alone!" Renji shouted, voice cracking at the end.

Renji glared for a moment before turning away, presenting his back to the man and showing him the only way Byakuya seemed to understand. Renji dismissed him, fist's clenching and unclenching in his lap, his heart an unsteady beat in his chest as shards of glass pierced his insides as his heart shattered with the weight of emotion's he had no control over.

Byakuya was stunned into silence for a few incomprehensible moment's, he had never heard Renji sound like that, had never... maybe it was for the best. This need that burned like a guttering flame in his chest was fragile, easily blown out and he felt it waver and dim inside him. His voice slipped free, cool, calm, unremarkable, "I..." Byakuya drew a breath, tasting moisture, crisp winter air and something earthier, he turned away, his haori picking up in the breeze, his hair lifting to flow behind him as he moved away, "I am ... sorry."

Renji's eyes opened slowly, head lifting and wondering if he'd heard correctly. Byakuya didn't apologise to anyone, had he really just...? Renji spun around to look at where the man had been stood seconds before and caught only the gentle movement of fallen leaves rattling across the floor.

"Shit." Renji cursed rising quickly, could he catch the fastest man in Sereitei? He didn't know, but he was going to try. His anger had faded at the hesitant words, surprise and dawning realisation settling in his gut like lead. What the fuck had he been thinking? Yeah he was pissed, but Byakuya – he'd found him hadn't he, come here, like he had so many time's and Renji had always believed he was cursed to suffer this gash in his chest forever.

But what if... what if Byakuya was reaching out in the only way he could?

Renji bit off another curse, energy building as he pushed reiatsu through his feet and launched forward in a cloud of dust and debris. Leg's pumping, arm's churning, hair whipping out behind him in a flag of red as he sprinted after the man he'd wanted, needed, yearned for since before he even knew what it was he felt. Renji would be damned if he'd let go of Byakuya now.

Not when he finally had something he could hold onto.


	3. Chapter 3

Caged Flower - Chapter 3

Author: Theablackthorn

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Byakuya/Renji

Warnings: BL

Note: Part of my 100 Themes Challenge.

Byakuya's feet took him across the roof's of Sereitei without any direction in mind. He could not return to the division or to the Kuchiki estate, servants and subordinates both filled halls and rooms leaving no space for true privacy. There was nowhere that Byakuya could retreat to when he felt like his heart had been stabbed clean through and the blade was still lodged inside. His fists clenched before going lax once more as an image of Renji turning away from him, that broad back facing him, thick hair like a skeins of crimson silk loose across the expanse, assaulted him again.

This affection he felt for Renji, this need to touch him, tangle long, pale finger's in that thick mane of his. But also to understand more about him - it was still so new. Byakuya had felt something similar for Hisana long ago, but for Renji it felt different - raw, untamed and enticing. It was a complete contrast in emotional vibrancy to his late wife. Byakuya did not know if it was because Renji was a man or if it was because they had fought side by side for so long. They knew each other in a completely different way from how he'd grown to know Hisana. In truth it mattered very little to him - the flame inside him that had wavered against Renji's anger had dwindled to nothing and his heart hurt.

Byakuya remained outwardly composed as he moved across the roof's of Sereitei, feet barely landing before he was off again. He didn't dare release the tightly pent up ball of emotion that was like lead weight in his gut.

A frown pinched Byakuya's brow as he thought about Renji's outburst again. The way Renji had presented his back to him was the clearest declaration the man had made, there had been no word's that could follow that, no confessions - it was enough to push home what his fukutaicho wanted. And, not for the first time, Byakuya had felt the weight of guilt that had drawn an apology from him, one that he'd meant from the bottom of his soul.

In that short space of time silently watching Renji, Byakuya could see what his pursuit had done to the normally unflinching man. Byakuya had never considered turning against what was expected of him, his duty to the Gotei 13 and the Kuchiki family. Hadn't thought to be honest with the man who had trained with him, had shared long nights of endless paperwork and had stood against him when he had been blinded by that self same duty. Renji had given him so much and he, in his own blinkered state, hadn't even considered giving anything back.

Byakuya was the head of the Kuchiki clan, one of the four founding clan's, was the head of Division Six and was, apparently, a complete idiot.

Byakuya sighed despondently, coming to a halt when his feet whispered across grass. He lifted his head to stare around and take in the shadowed bridge arching over the koi pond that had been the same since his childhood. His Father had liked to sit at the edge watching the flashes of white and gold in the sunlight. It seemed that his feet had returned him to the estate after all.

He furled his reiatsu tightly inside him like a coiled spring hoping that, for a time at least, he could remain unnoticed within the high wall's of the Kuchiki property. The koi pond was some distance from the main house which meant that the servant's and family members living on the property may remain unaware of his presence for a time at least. He needed space, the constant requests and demands of his duty to house,family and division a burden he had been born into and yet sometimes wished he could take ease from.

There was a pain that was digging around his heart, like the sharp thorn's of a rose twinning and puncturing his heart and scratching along the inside of his rib's with every breath. The pain inside his chest held the echoes of old grief and new and Byakuya needed to work through it alone as he always had.

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Renji cursed luridly as he tracked Byakuya across the rooftops of Sereitei, often finding himself crossing his own path back and forth. Renji had thought Byakuya would return to their Division or even the Kuchiki estate for some privacy, but it would seem the man had other ideas. He'd been running all over Sereitei, always arriving to late, only feeling the faint trace's of Byakuya's reiatsu that was left behind in his wake. Renji cursed heatedly as he stared around eyeing the tall white columns shadowing the large open area on the way up to the Sokyoku Hill. Images of a battle fought and concluded in blood and pain filled Renji's mind.

This was were he and Byakuya had truly come to blows for the first time. It had been a no holds barred all out battle to see who was stronger - who's will was made of iron. And, though renji had lost, he knew that he'd made some difference, had made his Taicho consider for a moment if nothing else.

His feeling's for his Taicho hadn't developed beyond admiration mixed with challenge then. But after that battle, when he'd lain broken and bleeding on the floor something inside of him had shifted - admiration, pain, blood, need and understanding - they had dawned in the thrust of sword, in the drip of blood and in the agony of defeat.

He had been fighting to save Rukia, to help Ichigo, but also to help himself.

Renji stared around at the pristine arena he and Byakuya had laid to waste and his mind picked up and ran through all the place's he'd visited on this journey across the length and breadth of Seretei. Images of the room Rukia had left him behind in at the Academy when Byakuya had brought her into the Kuchiki family. The day at the training ground's when he'd been chosen from amongst all the other member's of the Eleventh Division to join the Sixth as there new fukutaicho. Hundred's of moment's spread out across the city that were moment's he and Byakuya had shared in some way. And here - a truly defining moment when Byakuya had seemed to acknowledge his strength and purpose - had accepted his challenge.

Was Byakuya visiting all these place's on purpose? Or was it all just instinct? Renji could never accuse Byakuya of following his natural instinct's when they revolved around anything but duty. The man excelled at ignoring anything that linked him emotionally to another - and yet - he'd apologised to Renji today.

Kuchiki Byakuya had said he was sorry, and though Renji didn't know what Byakuya was sorry for, he could well believe that today - if no other - he was open to a little instinct.

Renji stared around once more before following the trace wisp's of reiatsu that were dissipating on the air. If he hadn't been so attuned to Byakuya he likely wouldn't have been able to follow it at all. Renji dug his toe's in as he leapt forward, channeling reiatsu through his body to push him further and faster than before. He had to find Byakuya - because this maybe the only chance he had to take him for his own.

Renji bared his teeth in a feral smile as he sped across rooftops as though he were flying and the hounds of hell were on his heel's.

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Renji was running full tilt when the tall wall's and solid oak door of the Kuchiki estate came into view. He smiled knowingly, the feel of Byakuya's reiatsu growing stronger with every step closer he took, "Found ya, Taicho."

He pushed himself that bit harder, hair streaming behind him like a flag of crimson as he leaped onto the tiles at the top of the wall, spun left and started around the wall acting as an impromptu walkway. He could feel Byakuya now, his Taicho had wrapped his reiatsu so tightly inside himself few would realise the man was within the estate grounds and Renji could only think that the Byakuya was trying to hide. Renji frowned but kept up his pace, land, push off, land again. He could feel the air currents whipping across his face, pulling on his hair as he moved quickly onwards.

Renji didn't want to step into the estate grounds just yet, not until he'd found Byakuya. He knew that the servants would sense his less than stellar attempt at hiding his reiatsu - especially as he was using shunpo to traverse the the perimeter of the estate at a rather alarming speed. He didn't want to draw out the nosy occupant's of the Kuchiki estate if Byakuya wanted to have some time to himself. He kept flicking his gaze right, catching snippets of the estate's open gardens and the house beyond all bathed in moonlight. He didn't slow as familiar reiatsu drew closer and closer, when he caught the briefest glint of moonlight on silver Renji's lips curled up into a feral grin and then he was leaping free of the wall and down into the garden.

But Renji realised a little to late that he was going to fast and had jumped a little further than he'd intended to when his Taicho turned around to look at him and those grey eyes widened the smallest fraction as Renji hurtled towards what felt like slow motion, Renji careened forward, the speed he'd utilised to chase after Byakuya now working against him as he tried to slow himself or even just turn himself to the side.

His attempts were ineffectual.

"Oh, fuck!" Renji cursed loudly in the breath between free fall and landing. He collided with Byakuya so hard he forced them both to the ground in a tangle of clothes and limbs, breath exiting his lungs on a gusty whoosh as Byakuya's body pressed up into his own.

Renji heard Byakuya suck in a quick breath, feeling the inhale and exhale all along his upper body were they were pressed together. He groaned softly as the hilt of Senbonzakura pressed into his side and he winced when Byakuya shifted under him. He lifted slightly but not fully off of the man, glad to have a captive audience even if it had been by accident. Though he knew Byakuya was pretty damned pissed off when the cold iron of his voice demanded, "Abarai, remove yourself from my person."

Renji lifted up a little further, arm's moving to bracket Byakuya's shoulders as he took in narrowed eyes, a deep frown and the inky blackness of his hair splayed out across the grass. "Ahhh... sorry Taicho - but no." Renji watched Byakuya with a mix of trepidation and excitement curling in his belly. Byakuya hadn't thrown him off, hadn't tried to kido him - yet. He hoped that was a good sign at least.

Renji chuckled nervously, "Ya see, I got this idea in my head." He didn't say anything further just moved his left hand up to just beside Byakuya's head, lifting enough to be hovering directly over Byakuya's face. He searched dark grey eyes that stared back without blinking and then he took a chance.

Renji let his arm and Byakuya's body take his full weight, his pelvis cradled by Byakuya's. He moved quickly, dropping his head down just far enough to brush his lip's across Byakuya's, his eyes sliding closed at the delicate brush of warmth. He felt the stir of moist breath dampen his lips as he pulled back, eyes sliding open once again. Renji stared down at Byakuya's face searchingly, only pulling back far enough to balance his own weight and see as much of Byakuya's features as possible. He waited in silence, hoping, worrying muscles tight with barely controlled nerves. And he waited longer still and Byakuya said nothing.

Renji didn't know what to make of Byakuya's silence, was his Taicho bewildered? Angered by his behaviour? Genuinely gobsmacked? Renji didn't have a clue and Byakuya's continued silence was starting to irritate him. Renji had gone out on a limb on a hunch, because this man couldn't express how he felt. Byakuya had played a tricky game with him because he held his duty and honour above everything else.

Renji growled low and harsh, voice rasping when he finally spoke, "Ya, gonna say something or just lay there?"

"Abarai, remove yourself from me." There was no change in Byakuya's tone, no reaction to the kiss he'd taken just the same cool indifference as always. And fuck if that didn't rile Renji up with a potent cocktail of pissed off and humiliated.

"Fine!" Renji declared, pushing up with both arm's, his muscles bunching tightly as he rose rather jerkily to his feet, his body chilling at the loss of their briefly shared warmth. Renji glared at Byakuya darkly, arm's coming up to fold across his chest. He didn't offer to aid the man to his feet as would be expected considering he'd been the one to knock Byakuya to the floor in the first place.

Renji watched, with a growing ball of fiery temper scorching his insides, Byakuya rose gracefully, brushed lightly at his attire to rid it of the small amount of dust that had settled on the dark fabric. He resettled his haori and ran his fingertips over the silk of his scarf before glancing up at Renji, then away and out across the garden, turning away from him without a word.

"Where do ya think yer going? Ain't ya got anything ta say to me at all?" Renji shouted, his anger bubbling up and out of his mouth in a torrent, leaving the cavity in his chest cold and empty.

Byakuya looked back over his shoulder at him, thin brow delicately arched before turning away and starting to walk towards the house that could barely be seen between the long branches of a weeping willow.

"Oi!" Renji uncrossed his arm's, reaching out for Byakuya as he stepped forward to follow the man. His fingers found cloth and he gripped tightly, hauling Byakuya around to face him once more, "What the fu-"

Renji's words were cut off by the soft press of lip's and he stared wide eyed as Byakuya kissed him. When his Taicho pulled back, grey eyes heavy-lidded and darkened to a thunderhead, Renji murmured softly, "So, I got to ya then?"

"Be quiet Renji."

Renji's lips curled into a smile that bared his teeth as he slid his finger's down to curl around Byakuya's cloth covered wrist, "Hai, Byakuya." Renji heard the faintest huff of breath from the other man as he turned away once again and it could almost have been a snort if it had come from anyone else. The soft sound just made Renji's smile widen further as he rubbed his thumb over Byakuya's bared palm.

Renji watched in amusement as Byakuya paused, half turned, eyes flitting down to his own wrist, studying Renji's finger's critically before turning fully towards the house and starting to walk. He didn't contest Renji's hold, at all. The soft lilt of Byakuya's voice carried back to him, "Behave, Renji."

Renji took two quick step's to put him flush with Byakuya's back and though he felt the other man stiffen slightly at the proximity he didn't move back again. He let his lip's ghost over the shell of Byakuya's ear instead as he murmured, "Fer now, Byakuya." It was a promise, one Renji made for them both.

Renji's finger's curled a little more firmly around Byakuya's delicate wrist and the faint blush that was only visible due to the moon's pale luminescence brought that grin out again. Renji came to a small realisation. The day Byakuya had been in the sixth Division's garden he had cradled a pale pink sakura blossom in the cage of his hand. If Renji were a philosophical man, then he would compare his Taicho to the small flower and the duty and honor he wrapped himself in the steel bars of his own cage. But Renji wasn't and he didn't dwell on the thought for long for the simple fact that Byakuya was the kind of man that tolerated cages - but if pressed would break free in a flurry of deadly petal's directed by nimble hand's.

And wasn't that exactly what they were doing right now as they stepped out from the shadow's of the tall willow tree's, moving from the moon's pale glow to the warm, welcoming lights of Byakuya's home?

Renji thought so and he hoped Byakuya did too.

It was the first step towards opening the cage and Renji was certain there would be many more steps forward from here. Byakuya turned to him at the edge of the porch,stepping into his body easily. Renji hadn't expected Byakuya to make such a bold move more than once in any given day, he was well known for his reserve. When a pale hand lifted and long, slender finger's ran through the thick strands of his hair that had fallen across his shoulder and then pulled away Renji was pleasantly surprised and momentarily shocked enough to loosen his hold on Byakuya's wrist. The noble took the opportunity to slip from his grasp and step from his warasaji and up onto the porch.

Renji watched as Byakuya looked back just once, murmuring quietly, "Goodnight, Renji."

Renji responded automatically, "Goodnight, Byakuya."

And then the man was gone, disappearing through an open doorway and leaving Renji in the garden alone once more. Renji blinked slowly before chuckling softly, "Che, idiot." He wasn't sure if he meant himself or Byakuya at that point. Renji had a burgeoning premonition that he was going to have a rather long and frustrating road ahead. But he considered the way Byakuya had felt, had looked and reacted to him - all his behaviour up to this point and the possible future, and Renji thought he might not mind fighting for it all.

It wasn't like he hadn't had enough practice after all.


End file.
